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One reason cats are such popular pets is that they are extremely adaptable. Cats are self-sufficient and thrive just about anywhere people do with very little additional care. Nevertheless, a cat's age, sex and breed should be considered if you want the most suitable pet for your lifestyle.

American Shorthair

A rural family with children running in and out of the house all day might be best suited for a sturdy, low maintenance American short-hair cat. A cat connoisseur might choose the unique look of the Ocicat, which, besides its spotted wild looking beauty, is known as one of the best companion cats. A long-haired cat or a high-strung, elegant Siamese might not be an ideal choice for an elderly person. The best companion for an older person or invalid might be an older, quiet cat who stays out from underfoot and is not too energetic. A Siamese cat, whose claws are sure to scratch expensive furniture, or a Persian, whose shedding might send a fastidious housekeeper into a broom swinging rage, might work well for an easygoing, young, childless couple.

Persian

The local library and local book store are probably good locations for acquiring information about cats. Attending cat shows and speaking with cat owners are excellent ways for obtaining information about specific breeds and temperaments. This article alone may provide you with most of the information you need for selecting your feline companion. Any pet professional; however, is going to tell you the same thing. The more you are informed, the better you are going to be satisfied with your decision.

Siamese

Decide what type of cat you want (pet, breeder or show quality). If you cannot commit to the money or time, do not buy a show cat. If you are not going to breed your cat, it is not necessary to buy breeding stock.

Adult or Kitten

Both an adult cat and a kitten have their virtues. An adult cat is a ready-made companion. He (or she) is trained, self-sufficient, and ready to go. What's more, he may already be neutered and he knows how to take care of himself. When he's tired of playing, he may hide. If you need a mouser, he can probably learn the job within hours. Assuming he's healthy and comes from a good breeder or loving home, he should make an excellent pet.

On the other hand, adult cats are generally slower to adjust to new situations than are kittens. It may take some extra time and patience when introducing an older cat to other family pets. Until he adjusts, you may need to supervise and keep an eye on him so that he doesn't sneak out the door and try to return to his former home.

By starting out with an adult cat; however, you are going to miss the enjoyment as well as anguishes of living with a kitten.

Kittens are adorable, cuddly and amusing. Their nonsensical antics and youthful exuberance are a delight. Watching them learn and grow is unforgettable for all ages and an exciting experience for children.

Prepare to give your kitten lots of care during the first few weeks. You need to feed your young kitten several times a day and clean up after him. He may even need to sleep cuddled up next to you for a while. Kittens are constantly getting intro mischief, so put away your table top items until he's older. Finally, be prepared for a few trips to the veterinary hospital for exams, vaccinations, neutering and an occasional incident.

Pedigree Cats

If you plan to show or breed your cat and you are specific about what you want in looks and temperament, buy a pedigreed cat from a reputable breeder. A pure-bred cat can cost several hundred dollars; however, you are probably not going to mull over your investment in an exquisite, show quality feline.

If you definitely want a particular breed, but you don't need show quality and registration papers, you can probably purchase a "pet quality" kitten relatively inexpensively from a breeder. While color variations or other minor faults may make the animal unacceptable for breeding or showing, they usually don't affect his potential for becoming a wonderful pet.

Long-Haired or Short-Haired Cats

A short-haired cat requires less maintenance than a cat with long hair. If you are considering a long-haired cat, your tolerance for hair on carpets, furniture and clothing is a major factor to consider. Allergies are another factor to consider as long-haired cats may aggravate allergies more than short-haired cats. If you decide on a long-haired cat and want to keep him healthy, daily grooming is necessary. Regular brushing, and an occasional dose of a veterinary-approved cat laxative, should keep him free from hairballs. Both long-haired and short-haired cats should get a nail trim from time to time.

Male or Female

Males cats are generally larger than female cats. Neutered males normally don't spray and are mellower than non-neutered male cats because they are not driven by their hormones. Altered cats are more docile than non-neutered cats. Unless cat breeding is your goal, sex makes little difference in your choice. Spayed females do not produce generation after generation of unwanted kittens.

Dogs are extremely clear about relationships: either you are someone to listen to, or you are someone to be directed. Period. Power struggles evolve around the issue of control. They result from a lack of clear-cut delineation of roles, or a lack of respect for the designated authority figure. Power struggles are learned behavior.

Dogs are pack animals like wolves, and they respond naturally to the laws of pack existence. A dog is a dog; from a Great Dane or a Rottweiler to a Poodle or a Chihuahua, they will lead or be lead. Just because your puppy does not live in a wild pack does not mean that she will not instinctively adapt these behaviors to her domestic environment. Living with your puppy will be much more enjoyable and meaningful if you understand the basic principles of pack life and apply them to your relationship. Dominance and submission are absolutely central to the pack.

All puppies love to play; you can capitalize on this by making play sessions with your pup part of her training. Play conditions your pup to be enthusiastic about learning and to enjoy being with you. By mixing training with games, you can bring out of a healthy attitude in your pup that will carry over to conventional obedience work as she gets older.

Prevention, which is easier than correction, is the name of the game. Start grooming right away even if there isn’t much to groom. Rough games encourage rough behavior, so avoid rowdy forms of play. Don’t encourage your puppy to do anything you do not want your adult dog to do. Get your puppy used to having you touch her while she eats. Never pet a barking or whining puppy: the response to soothe the upset youngster is seen as praise, leading to more of the same later in life. If you can ignore the noise, praise her when she stops. Get a puppy used to all kinds of handling early. When you get your pup, be sure to gently grab her skin, hold her tail for a second, or lift up one of her paws. Always be gentle; you do not want to hurt the pup.

Do what is truly natural: be your dog’s leader. Most dogs love their owners, but many don’t respect them. Respect is earned, not given. Dogs adore and respect a confident leader who is decisive and fair.

Despite their independent ways, your cats are very sociable animals. Of course, they will never let you know that, which is why they quickly hang up the phone when they hear you coming. But the truth of the matter is, they can get lonely and bored if you don’t spend enough time trying to get them to play with you.

To minimize the chance of your cat feeling isolated, you may want to consider getting another cat. And to minimize the chance of that cat getting lonely, you may want to get yet another cat...and so forth. Here are some tips you might find useful for multiple cat households.

In general, the following combination of cats seem to work best: two kittens, a mature, neutered cat and kitten, or two mature neutered cats (either two females or a male and a female). The most volatile combination seems to be two uncastrated mature male cats.

Consider your current cat’s personality before introducing a new cat. An active cat is more likely to accept a new kitten. A quieter, more reclusive cat might prefer a mature, adult cat as a companion.

If your cats exhibit personality conflicts, you can reduce the tension between family felines by making sure each cat has enough personal space and personal possessions to fulfill its needs.

Make sure you have at least one litter box on every floor and that they are easy to get to in an emergency. To avoid territory conflicts between cats, consider placing litter boxes in various locations throughout the house to avoid the exclusion of one cat from another cat’s territory.

Be sure to keep plenty of clean, fresh water available for your cats at all times. Keeping bowls in multiple locations throughout the house might be a good idea.

Keep scratching posts and beds in several locations to accommodate all the cats in your household.

To properly evaluate and clean your pet’s teeth, general anesthesia or deep sedation is necessary. If teeth cleaning is done without anesthesia or deep sedation, it is usually done outside a veterinary hospital by non-professional individuals. Only veterinarians are authorized to administer anesthesia or sedation to pets and veterinarians are the only professionals who can properly clean your pets’ teeth.

There are several reasons why anesthesia or deep sedation is necessary for oral examination and dental cleaning:

• Dental tartar is firmly attached to the surface of teeth and needs to be removed.
• Scaling by ultrasonic scalers and sharp hand instruments are necessary in order to remove the dental tartar.
• Any sudden movement can cause injury to the animal or individual performing the dental procedure.
• Dental scaling is performed above and below the gum line. Scaling the teeth above the gum line usually does not cause discomfort; however, scaling below the gum line (or under the gums) can cause discomfort. The area below the gum line, or subgingival space, is the most important area to clean as periodontal disease begins here.
• Humans cooperate during dental procedures; however, without anesthesia or deep sedation, dogs and cats do not.
• Scaling above the gum line offers nothing but cosmetic results. Scaling must be done below the gum line.

A complete examination of all surfaces of the teeth is impossible to perform while the veterinary patient is awake. The external surface of some teeth may be superficially examined; however, the inside surfaces of the teeth (within the oral cavity) cannot be evaluated unless anesthesia or deep sedation is administered.

Laboratory blood tests along with an ECG and radiographs are often necessary before a dental patient can be anesthetized. The older the patient, the more tests that may be needed prior to administering general anesthesia. Animals with congenital disease and pets suffering from chronic conditions are a greater anesthetic risk than completely healthy pets. If your pet is considered an anesthetic risk, your veterinarian will recommend the tests that are necessary prior to administering anesthesia.

The anesthesia given to one pet may be completely different than the anesthesia given to another pet. Your veterinarian can choose from a variety of pre-anesthetic medications and anesthesia induction agents. After the pre-anesthesia medication and induction agents are administered, general anesthesia is usually maintained with a gas agent (isoflurane or sevoflurane) mixed with oxygen.

Monitoring the anesthetized patient is a fundamental procedure in veterinary medicine. Most veterinary hospitals evaluate the condition of their anesthetized patients by using one or more of the following monitors:

• Electronic Respiratory Monitor
• Pulse Oximeter
• Blood-Pressure Monitor
• Electrocardiograph (ECG)
• Esophageal Stethoscope
• Carbon Dioxide Monitor

Along with patient monitoring, it is important to keep the pet warm and comfortable during the dental procedure. Since many procedures may last longer than an hour, the pet’s core body temperature may become lowered. By using blankets, hot water bottles and heated tables, the veterinary patient’s body temperature can be maintained at its normal value.

During the last few years, veterinary dentistry has made tremendous strides. By taking advantage of the dental procedures offered at our hospital, your pet can enjoy the benefits of having excellent teeth well into his or her senior years.

A well-behaved dog is the product of teaching him to understand what is expected; you are responsible to teach him what behavior is or is not tolerated. As the owner of a new puppy, training is necessary and mutually beneficial. Young puppies are a veritable behavioral blank slate. If you are able to take advantage of this special time and begin temperament and basic obedience training using gentle, positive reinforcement methods, you are much more likely to end up with a well-behaved, sociable companion for life.

Benefits of early puppy training include:

• Instilling good manners
• Utilizing your puppy's critical socialization period to familiarize him with all kinds of people, animals, and environments
• Getting him used to being handled and touched
• Stimulating his abilities
• Troubleshooting common puppy problems like play-biting, chewing, digging and housebreaking before they become inconvenient dog problems

Obedience Training

The classes to look for should include information and instruction on how to communicate with your puppy. Housetraining, chewing, bite inhibition, off-leash socialization, handling, house manners and often an introduction to basic obedience skills should be part of your puppy’s program. Imagine a pre-school for pups!

Once your puppy has become a socialized member of the canine community and is old enough to being learning commands, classes are usually available at a variety of levels. These classes start from the beginning, covering basic commands such as sit, stay, down, come, etc. They help you continue the "conversation" you had begun with your puppy at your first puppy class. By having everyone in your family participate, your puppy learns to accept his place in the family.

• Keep sessions short (around 5-10 minutes) as dogs generally have short attention spans.
• Determine what kind of positive reinforcement training you are going to use and stick with it. If your puppy is not responsive to food, try a favorite toy or enthusiastic verbal praise.
• Consult with a training school or personal trainer (yup, dogs have them too!) to help establish a routine.
• Initiate consistent house rules with other family members. If Mom says "lay down" but Dad says "down", it could cause confusion, thwarting progress.

Ultimately, how much and how well your puppy learns is up to you. Constant attention and positive reinforcement are the keys to success. Helping your puppy become a fun-loving and obedient companion also makes your relationship that much more enjoyable in the long run.

Have you ever wondered what your pet is up to when you're away at work or on vacation? Perhaps they're quietly hanging out, anxiously awaiting your return, but more likely they're romping, playing and taking advantage of your absence to climb up on the furniture. But thanks to high-speed internet connections and advances in webcams, you can keep an eye on your pet at all times using pet cams.

Pet cams are webcams set up to monitor your pet. Hooked up to a computer with an internet connection, a pet cam can stream live video footage to a website that you can view from just about anywhere. Pet cams are handy for both keeping watch over your pet to make sure he or she isn't hurt or injured while you're away and for just watching your pet be him or herself. Computer-savvy pet owners often set up whole websites devoted to their pet cam. There are pet cams for almost every kind of pet, from sites devoted to dogs and cats to guinea pig and lizard cams. Websites such as pet-cams.com are a good place to start viewing how other pet cams are set-up. Pet-cams.com offers links to individual pets' sites, such as Guinness the Dog and The Little Beasts, a site devoted to Emrys and Bergamot, a pair of Boston Terriers.

You don't necessarily need to create a website in order to watch your pets via a pet cam, though. Services like MyPetCams.com is a free site that allows users to stream their pet cam on the MyPetCams.com website. Users can log in to their account from any place with an internet connection and see what their pet is doing.

Example of a doggy daycare pet cam.

Pet sitters, doggy daycare providers and other animal care providers are also on the pet cam bandwagon. Pet cams can give pet owners peace of mind when their companion is spending the day at a daycare or pet sitting facility. The site MyPetSitterCam.com acts as a pet cam portal for pet sitters. Once an account is established and a camera hooked up, pet sitters provide their clients with an web address where they can view the camera and watch their pets. Doggy daycare providers are also installing cameras in their facilities in order to give clients a pup's-eye-view of what's happening. Many companies are starting to take notice - Online Doggy helps kennels, daycares and other pet care providers install and connect pet cams to their websites. Other options include the Rover Cam, a small wireless camera that is attached to a harness on a dog, which truly let's pet owners see the world through their dog's eyes.